SAN ANTONIO — Having already made their point that they are pushovers no more, the Mavericks needed one more shot to finish off a 4-0 road trip.

They turned not to Dirk Nowitzki, but to Vince Carter and even Nowitzki couldn’t argue with the logic.

That didn’t make it any less painful when the plan didn’t work.

Carter’s 3-pointer over the arm of 7-footer Tiago Splitter rimmed out at the buzzer and left the Mavericks with a gut-wrenching 92-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night at AT&T Center.

They had fought back valiantly from eight points down in the final two minutes with strong defense and good execution to give themselves a shot at the win.

“It felt good,” Carter said. “But when I’m put in that position, I got to make the shot. It never sits well with me (when I don’t). We’re playing for so much, so I needed it to go in, plain and simple.

“We got the shot I wanted. We didn’t have a timeout, so you have to go on the fly. I didn’t feel like I forced the shot.

“I pride myself on being fearless and not being afraid to take the big shot. I’m going to hold my head up high, regardless, but it’s never set well with me. I feel like that’s my job.”

It put a sour end to a road trip that started with three consecutive wins. The Mavericks had their season-high-tying four-game winning streak halted. And it also was the first time since 1997-98 that the Spurs have swept a season series from the Mavericks.

Tim Duncan was a beast with 28 points and 19 rebounds and Kawhi Leonard hit a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:38 to go that would be the Spurs’ final — and winning — points.

The Mavericks clearly have come a long way since the early months of the season when they were blown out three times by the Spurs, owners of the best record in the Western Conference. And while the Mavericks’ playoff hopes took a hit, they clearly have reason to feel like they still are in the hunt given their level of play.

Again, not that it was any consolation Thursday.

“We gave ourselves a chance,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’re disappointed that the last one didn’t go down, but Vince created a pretty good look. We were down eight with (2:30) to go and to be able to hang in like that is a real positive. But we need wins. We don’t take any moral victories from this.

“There are some good things going on, but we got to stay the course. We don’t accept this loss as a moral victory. That’s not what we’re about and not where we’re at.”

The game started the Mavericks only four-game, five-night stretch of the season with one of their most spirited defensive efforts of the season. But they couldn’t capitalize on it because they couldn’t grab rebounds in the first half, when the Spurs led by nine at the break.

It still was a massive improvement from the first three meetings this season, which were mismatches with the Spurs rolling up leads of 46 points in the first game and 26 and 25 in the two visits to Dallas.

This time, there was no such blowout.

When Nowitzki threw in a 3-pointer with 7:46 left, the Mavericks had their first lead of the game at 78-77.

It lasted exactly 18 seconds before Gary Neal offset Nowitzki with a 3-pointer, triggering a 7-0 Spurs’ spurt. The Mavericks would not lead again, although they played impressively down the stretch.

Leonard got loose in the corner and Manu Ginobili found him for a 3-pointer and a 92-84 San Antonio lead.

After that, the Mavericks’ defense was terrific. They forced a shot-clock violation and a miss by Ginobili. Meanwhile, they got a jumper from O.J. Mayo, Carter’s 3-pointer and a pure jumper from Nowitzki with 28.2 showing to make it 92-91.

After Ginobili’s miss, the Mavericks had 8.7 seconds to work with.

The Spurs had a foul to give and used it, then the Mavericks got the ball to Carter, who had a sharp fourth quarter going. He rose up over Splitter, but his shot just rimmed out.

It was a gripping finish to a game in which the Mavericks were scratching and clawing all night.

“Vince has been great for us,” Nowitzki said. “I can’t complain about that (shot). I didn’t really like the play call with me standing right there in his way. I probably should have cut and moved away. But he’s been clutch ever since he got to us. I can live with that shot.”

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